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Medical entitlements and COVID-19

Responding to COVID-19 means many registrants are expected to work in new roles. These roles may come with new responsibilities around the sale, supply, administration or prescription of medicines.

The Standards of conduct, performance and ethics states:

You must keep up to date with and follow the law, our guidance and other requirements relevant to your practice.

Which professions are entitled to sell, supply, administer and prescribe medicines is set out in law. The key pieces of legislation are:

The Medicines Act 1968

Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001

The Human Medicines Regulations 2012

These restrictions have not changed in light of COVID-19. It is therefore important that registrants and employers are aware of these laws, and that the pressures of COVID-19 do not prevent registrants from practising in line with these.

This information aims to support registrants to understand their medical entitlements, so they can establish whether or not they are practising in line with the law. You should read this information sheet alongside our other pages on applying the standards in response to COVID-19.

To be a prescriber means to have the legal authority to issue prescriptions. There are two types of prescribing – independent and supplementary.

An independent prescriber is able to prescribe on their own initiative any medicine within their scope of practice and relevant legislation, whilst a supplementary prescriber is a voluntary partnership between a doctor or dentist and a supplementary prescriber to prescribe within an agreed service user-specific clinical management plan (CMP).

Only some of our professions can train to become prescribers – this is set out in law. To become prescribers, registrants in these professions have to complete an approved education programme. Further detail is set out in our Standards for prescribing.

Supplementary prescribers can prescribe controlled drugs, but only in accordance with a service user’s clinical management plan. Independent prescribers cannot prescribe controlled drugs unless extra laws have been passed which allow their profession to do so.

Currently, chiropodist / podiatrist and physiotherapist independent prescribers can prescribe certain controlled drugs. A list of these is set out on our medical entitlements page.

Training and support

Like any part of your scope of practice, you will need to ensure you have the appropriate training and support to work with new medicines. You can read more about assessing your scope of practice and establishing training needs in our scope of practice information page.

Impact of COVID-19 on medical entitlements

We are not aware of plans for the laws surrounding medical entitlements to change due to COVID-19. Registrants will therefore still need to practise within the limits set out in law.

Extending the rights of our professions is not governed by HCPC, although we do work closely with the professions to support this. As it requires a change in law, it needs approval by Government. If you are concerned about the current medical entitlements of your profession, you should reach out to your professional body and local MP to make a case for changing the law.